Choedan Kal
The Choedan Kal are two giant sa'angreal that were created during the War of Power, one for a man and one for a woman. They are the two most powerful sa'angreal ever created. The plan was to use the ter'angreal access keys to wield the One Power through the giant sa'angreal in order to defeat the forces of the Shadow and to erect a barrier around Shayol Ghul until a way to deal with the problem could be developed. Using the statues directly was impossible due to the massive amounts of the One Power (no buffer would be sufficient), and due to the difficulty of transporting them to the field of battle. When the access keys and the Choedan Kal were lost to the advancing armies of Sammael, Demandred and Be'lal, Lews Therin and the Hundred Companions were forced to employ their alternate plan of sealing the bore. The Choedan Kal remained unavailable until recently; the female statue is half-buried on the Sea Folk island of Tremalking and the male statue is being excavated near the village of Tremonsien. Rand al'Thor first encountered the male statue while en route to Cairhien following his trip through the Portal Stones. At the time, Selene was with him, and she panicked and berated Rand about his ignorance in the One Power when the allure of the sa'angreal makes Rand attempt to channel through it without one of the access ter'angreal. In the Aiel Waste, Rand discovered Asmodean was in Rhuidean attempting to find an access ter'angreal he thought was there. Rand battled Asmodean for control of the male Choedan Kal and eventually overpowered him. From this point on, Rand had the two access ter'angreal in his possession. Lanfear tried to tempt him by saying a man and woman using the Choedan Kal together could challenge the Dark One, and maybe the Creator himself. Asmodean discreetly referred to the sa'angreal as the only chance Rand has of winning the Last Battle. It was about this time that Rand began to toy with the idea of using the sa'angreal to cleanse the taint on saidin. Originally, he had planned to use Callandor for the deed, but after Cadsuane Melaidhrin informed him that Callandor is flawed, he realized the Choedan Kal were his last hope. Nynaeve al'Meara and Rand linked outside Shadar Logoth, and tapped the Choedan Kal through the access ter'angreal. Rand was successful in [[cleansing saidin|cleansing the taint from saidin]], but in the attempt, the female access key was destroyed. The male counterpart is currently still in Rand's possession. But maybe there is a second female key discovered by Egwene in Tel'aran'riot while exploring the Panarch's palace in Tanchico. As an aside, the statues glowed brightly during their intensive use to clean saidin (which appears to be typical behavior for a (sa')angreal in use). The native people on Tremalking apparently see the glowing female statue's orb as a herald to the end of the "Time of Illusion," and shortly thereafter all of the island's inhabitants are found to have committed mass suicide. Notes Category:sa'angreal